The Surprising Benefits Of Open Marriage

Many people believe that open marriage is a) absurd in the extreme (why bother being married then?) or b) impossibly complicated emotionally, logistically, and sexually. Truthfully, there are as many types of open marriages as there are closed, so these assumptions are baseless, though understandable. Swingtown notwithstanding, the imagined benefits of open marriage (Sex! All the time! With friends and neighbors!) are quite titillating but (alas) often untrue.

What is true, however, is that most people practicing open marriage are usually both romantic and realistic about the probability of remaining monogamous over a lifetime with one partner. If recent studies are any indication, most people who pledge monogamy aren’t actually faithful anyway, so you could say people in open marriage are simply being more honest about their desire to mess around than the average American.